OK. So you want to store some vegtables.

First things first. LOCATION is everything. Pick a spot thats cool and dark but won't freeze. Well insulated outbuilding or cool corner in the basement works.

The storage box: Make it out of plywood and paint the plywood so it does not attract mold. Put a lid on it.

Sand: Clean sand. CLEAN. You can dig it out of a bank just about anywhere. Make sure its dry and without foreign material. Screen it if you have too.

Place about 6 inches of sand on the bottom to start. Place your vegtables so they are close but not touching each other. Make a layer and then place enough sand on them to fill in the gaps and cover them lightly. a couple of inches works. Then repeat. My boxes are about 3 feet deep. Don't fill right to the top. Leave some room for a little bit of circulation.

Preparing your vegtables: You can store things like potatoes. Carrots. Beets. Turnips. Parsnips. apples in sand.You would be amazed at how long they will store like this. Up to a year in some cases.

Cabbage stores for a long time a but not in sand use burlap sacks for them.Remember cool and dark.

Squashes and Pumpkins also will keep for a very long time but best to layer them in clean dry straw. Squashes need to be treated first where their stems were otherwise they will start to get moldy around their stems . Cut off whats left of their stems short. I use cold water and bleach. I wash them in the cold water bleach solution and then dry them off really good before storage.

In a typical kitchen sink I fill it 3/4 full and add about an ounce of bleach. After I treat the stem area with a dab of straight bleach.

Thats hoe easy it is too store a huge pile of fresh vegtables for a very long time for you and your family.

Anybody else with storage idea's please feel free to add to this thread. The more idea's the better for everybody. marryer.